tonight to Joshua the 22nd chapter Joshua chapter 22 and if you're able remain standing as we read this chapter in God's Word this evening which we might entitle altar of witness altar of witness hear God's Word then Joshua called the Reubenites the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, and said to them, You have kept all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. You have not left your brethren these many days up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God and now the Lord your God has given rest to your brethren as he promised them now therefore return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan But take heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. So Joshua blessed them and sent them away and they went to their tents. Now to half the tribe of Manasseh, Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half of it, Joshua gave a possession among their brethren on this side of the Jordan westward. And indeed, when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them and spoke to them, saying, Return with much riches to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with So the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh returned and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses. And when they came to the region of the Jordan, which is in the land of Canaan, The children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a great impressive altar. Now the children of Israel heard someone say, Behold, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan in the region of the Jordan on the children of Israel's side. And when the children of Israel heard it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them. Then the children of Israel sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the priest, to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, and to the land of Gilead. And with ten rulers, one ruler from the chief house of every tribe of Israel, each one was the head of the house of his father among the divisions of Israel. Then they came to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, What treachery is this, that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel this day? against the Lord. Is the iniquity of Peor not enough for us from which we are not cleansed till this day? Although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, but that you must turn away this day from following the Lord and it shall be if you rebel today against the Lord that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord's tabernacle stands, and take possession among us. But do not rebel against the Lord." nor rebel against us by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of the Lord our God. Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing? And wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel and that man did not perish alone in his iniquity. Then the children of Reuben The children of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the divisions of Israel, the Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knows and let Israel itself know. If it is in rebellion or in treachery against the Lord, do not save us this day. If we have built ourselves an idol to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer on it burnt offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let the Lord himself require an account but in fact we have done it for fear for a reason saying in time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants saying what have you to do with the Lord God of Israel For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between you and us. You children of Reuben and children of Gad, you have no part in the Lord. So your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the Lord. Therefore we said, let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, but that it may be a witness between you and us and our generations after us that we may perform the service of the Lord before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings, that your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come, you have no part in the Lord. Therefore, we said that it will be when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, here is the replica of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices, but it is a witness. between you and us far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn from following the Lord this day to build an altar for burnt offerings for grain offerings or for sacrifices besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before his tabernacle now when Phineas the priest and the rulers of the congregations the heads of the divisions of Israel who were with him heard the words that the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. Then Phineas, the son of Eleazar the priest, said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord. And Phineas, the son of Eleazar the priest, and the rulers returned from the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought back word to them. So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel blessed God. They spoke no more of going against them in battle to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt. The children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar witness. For it is a witness between us that the Lord is God. May He be pleased in His Word. You may be seated. Let's pray together again. Oh Lord, our God, we pray that you would bless us as we look at this passage of scripture. Lord, help us to be living witnesses. We ask in Jesus' name, Amen. You can follow the outline generally in your bulletin, three portions in this chapter, verses 1 through 9, what happened when the war was over. Verses 10-20, altar of witness and almost war. And section 3 beginning in verse 21-32, the crisis averted and the faith confessed. Let's look at the end of the war in verses 1-9. So in verses 1-4, Israel had reached the end of the war. Now not all the Canaanites had been expelled, and this is going to cause trouble. later, but as a whole the land was subdued and there was no need to keep an army in the field. Remember, unlike our day, the Lord did not want war to become big business or to become an occupation. The 40,000 or so men from, you probably know the names of the tribes now, Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, who if you're looking on a map, and here's the Jordan River, they were on the westward, excuse me, yes, no, they were on the eastward side of Jordan. It was time for them to go home. they could return to their families. Now, most believe they probably rotated over that seven years of war. They probably rotated the men who remained on active duty. And there were certainly lulls in the fighting during the winter season. But as the chapter opens, these tribes had done everything that Moses had commanded them. Remember, they proposed, hey, can we have our inheritance on this side of the Jordan? Because there's a lot of grazing room for our flocks and they were faithful to their brethren these seven years fighting living and dying with them and so now that the Lord has given rest to the remaining tribes they could return home. Joshua commends them for being faithful to their brothers. And it reminds us, as Peter says in 1 Peter 1.22, that we, if you'll look there with me, and I just want you to see these words, we are to love one another fervently. In our age of hate, notice 1 Peter 1.22, since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently, with a pure heart. Part of that love is that we're supposed to bear one another's burdens. If a brother is hurting, if he falls into sin, if he needs our help, if he needs encouragement, we are to consider our lives as bound up with his. Each believer should seek relationships within the body of Christ so that we can call on one another in the hour of temptation and pray with one another and seek the Lord together until victory is won. If there's hunger in the body, we are to share with those in need. Since young believers are under attack in this and in every age, it's a responsibility of the entire body to pull together with them and uphold them by admonition and encouragement and prayer and example. We are bound together, this chapter teaches us, at a basic level by one Lord, one faith, one baptism. And we face and fight one enemy, We worship one God and we confess that Jesus Christ alone is our one Savior. And when we rest together in heaven and when the war is over, then we can have peace. This is our unity. This is our calling in Christ. It is the path of victory. Now before they leave, back to Joshua 22, verses 5 through 9, he gives these two and a half tribes a charge. in verses five through nine. This is worthy of an entire sermon. I mean this will guide us for the week if we will give ourselves to it. Joshua was old. Now this is probably the last time. Remember the Lord told him that. Joshua, you're old. Okay. And so this is probably the last time he's going to see these men he's been fighting with for seven years. And he tells them what? Look there. In verse five he says, take careful heed. to walk in obedience to God. Everybody in here, take careful heed this week. Watch your steps carefully. Walk in obedience to the Lord. Jesus said, you're my friends if you do what I command you. He says, be careful to observe the law, not be careful to follow your feelings or be careful to find an easier way to live. Be careful to obey God's word. Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded us. Jesus Christ commanded us to do what? To walk in his ways. You know, God has a way we're supposed to walk. It's not just haphazard, throw a spiritual dart against the wall and hope it sticks. God actually has a way we're supposed to walk. In obedience to Him, in prayer, morning, noon, and night. Doing our work for Him heartily. It says to keep His commandments. To hold fast to Him, that means to cleave to Him. Old Testament religion was not a religion of ethnicity. It wasn't a religion of formality. It wasn't a religion of ceremony. It was a religion of the heart, just like all biblical religion is. He says hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Nefesh in Hebrew could just as easily be translated with all your life. With every breath serve Him with all that is in you. This is how Joshua charges them as they leave. Distance must not be allowed to diminish piety or affection. And Joshua can give them no better advice than to walk closely with the Lord. He probably gave in verses 7 through 9 a departing charge more directly to them as they were loading their camels and their wagons. He says, go, verse 8, take your livestock, your riches, make sure you share it, verse 8, with your brethren who are at home. Because remember, as David later said, the ones who stay behind and keep the baggage have as much a right to the spoil as those who fought in the battle. Now, verses 10 through 20, this altar of witness, own their way home. After they leave in verses 10, particularly verse 10, they stop just on the western side of the Jordan River and they build this colossal altar. And in Hebrew it means an impressive one, one that could be seen. It was big. It was huge. And they built it. And verse 11, the rest of the tribes of Israel heard that this had happened, and they get ready to go to war. Now remember a couple things. As we're going to see, this was not for sacrificing, but for remembering. But the rest of the nation did not know this yet. The Lord had authorized one altar, and only one at the tabernacle, which was then in Shiloh. The two and a half tribes did not want a separate church, but they did not want their children to forget How they had helped conquer the land of promise or to lose a sense of belonging to God's people. Now what looms largely in this is the Jordan River. So it was not only a river, I mean we have rivers here in Atlanta. But the river was at the bottom of a gorge and there's a 3,000 foot elevation difference. So this is a huge natural barrier, almost like living in a different nation and part of the world. And the other tribes heard of this and immediately they suspected treachery. and they gathered together to go to war. The high priest Phineas, you can read there in verses 10 through 14, he got the head of every main family in each of the tribes. He went with them and wanted to confront the two and a half tribes. To them, it looked like their brethren were setting up a competing worship site. For all they knew, maybe it was an idolatrous one. Now verses 15 through 20, we see their incredible zeal here for the Lord. By the way, this is the best speech that you'll find in the entire Old Testament coming from the people. I mean, this generation who had been in the wilderness, who had watched their fathers and their mothers die for their unbelief, They were committed to following the Lord and their zeal. Now we may think, hey, this is like laughable. Couldn't you just send a couple people and ask what you were doing? But they were zealous for the Lord. But they did stop first, thankfully, so that no innocent blood was shed. The two and a half tribes must have been startled. Why are you all gathered here on our borders? But then the leaders spoke, and again this is one of the best speeches that you'll read in the entire Old Testament. Notice there beginning in verse 16. What have you done? Now again, they haven't read the situation correctly, but you see their heart. Why are you wanting to turn away from following the Lord in that you have built for yourself an idol? Remember this was a replica altar, so they could only think this was for sacrificing. But the Lord said, only one altar at the tabernacle. You've done this, end of verse 16, that you might rebel against the Lord. Verse 17, Belpeor? with the whole situation with Balaam, isn't it enough that we committed idolatry and immorality and 24,000 of us died in one day. Notice what they said in verse 17, we're still not cleansed from this. Boy, in our day and age, hey, I feel better after my dinner, I must be forgiven. This was the people who took seriously their sins and they were plagued by them still. Verse 18, you're not doing this for yourself alone. You see how faith is the basis of national unity and why we're so broken down today. Don't you know, after the question that begins verse 18, they assume they're turning away from the Lord. Don't you know that he's going to be angry with the whole congregation? There's a sense of unity here that, well, this is just my private sin, and it's an innocent, victimless crime, and so nobody will know what's going on. No, there's a unity in the body here, and even at a national level, that where we all suffer because of this individual sins. In verse 19, they make a very interesting offer. Hey, if your land is unclean, If there's something about the eastern side of the Jordan where you are that maybe the inhabitants are filthy or they're tempting you to idolatry, come over and take some of our land. Come over and live near the tabernacle, end of verse 19, but don't rebel. by building an altar besides the altar of the Lord our God. There's incredible. I don't know that we'll find this again until Jesus, and I'll just quote the verse, a zeal for your house has consumed me. These people had a zeal for not just for worship in general, and, hey, we can set up our own church. It's different strokes for different folks. No, they were zealous to worship and to worship the way that God commanded, that we not set up competing altars, and that we recognize that common worship is the basis for our national unity and even God's blessing upon us. So he's like, hey, if y'all need to come over here, verse 19, and by the way, didn't they remember Achan? I mean, this is like an honesty. These people were walking with the Lord. Hey, don't you know that when Achan sinned, nobody else knew about it? But everybody suffered because of the wrath that fell upon us because of our sins. Now, it's true, of course. We can kind of chuckle. I wouldn't do it, okay? This misunderstanding could have been easily averted, and maybe this zeal for worship is all quite humorous. You know, just let them go. Who cares if they start another church? Everyone should be free to worship God as he thinks best, for pity's sake. But that wasn't the spirit of those days. He said otherwise. He says you're to worship as I command you. In those days where I command you, certainly the way that I command you. Look in Deuteronomy chapter 12. We do well to see this again in our day. And then we can look at a New Testament passage as well. But in Deuteronomy 12. Beginning in verse 29, here's what the Lord commanded. When the Lord your God cuts off from before you, this is Deuteronomy 12, 29. When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess and you displace them and dwell in your land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their God, saying, How did these nations worship their gods? I will do likewise. You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. For every abomination to the Lord which he hates, they have done to their gods. For they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. You shall not add to it or take away. We are not to worship the Lord according to the desires of our own hearts or feelings or preferences. And what is most commendable at this point in Israel's national faith is their zeal for pure biblical worship. They had learned the lessons of the past and they were ready to die and fight for purity of worship. Now thankfully they did not rush in with guns blazing, but made a plea that gave the two-and-a-half tribes an opportunity to defend themselves. But again, let's learn this lesson. The Lord Jesus was zealous like this. Turn with me to Matthew 15. We might think that's purely an Old Covenant, Old Testament idea, and now it's just different. Well, whatever you want to do. But again, our Lord brought the same zeal for his father's house, for purity and worship into the new covenant. So that our worship question again is not, do I like it? But has God commanded it? Otherwise, Matthew 15, 1. Then the scribes and the Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus saying, why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders for they do not wash their hands when they eat bread? He answered and said to them, why do you transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor your father and your mother, and he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say, Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever profit you might have received for me is a gift to God. So in parentheses, so that I can devote myself to full-time Christian service. Then he need not honor his father or mother, thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition, hypocrites. Well did Isaiah prophesy about you saying, these people draw near to me with their mouth, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, God, God, God. and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." Look over in Colossians 3, you have this same idea here, excuse me, Colossians 2, where the Apostle Paul, apparently in Colossae, believe it or not, they were They believed in some angelic hierarchy and asceticism, don't eat this, don't go here, don't wear these kinds of clothes, and this is acceptable worship. And he says to them in Colossians 2.20, from the basic principles of the world. Why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourself to regulations? Don't touch, don't taste, don't handle, which concern things which perish with the using according to the commandments and doctrines of men. These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion or worship, false humility, and neglect of the body, but they are of no value, they are of no worth against the indulgence of the flesh. So this same idea is found in both Testaments that when we come into the presence of God, it's not what we like, it's not what we want, it's what He likes and what He wants in His Word. And in Joshua 22, at this stage in Israel's history, the leaders of the people are very committed to worshiping God as He has commanded, and may God bring these things to the forefront in our day again, and may we be concerned about this even as they were. Now, in the last section of the chapter, they were stung, I'm sure, by the falseness of the charge, but the Eastern tribes did not start shouting at their accusers. They did not aloofly withdraw. like we often do when we're falsely accused, but they stood and answered because the glory of God was more important to them than the injury of being falsely accused. Notice they start in verse 22, the Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, this full title, this full title flowing from a full heart of zeal. Interesting, both were zealous for God's name. He knows. They say, in effect, if we were rebelling against Him, He would know. If we had built this altar for sacrifice, He would know. Don't save us. In effect, they say, kill us. If we have done what you accuse us of, we deserve to die. Verse 23, if we've built this altar to offer grain offerings and burnt offerings and peace offerings, let the Lord require it of us right now. But they say, notice, but this is not what we have done. By the way, very interesting here. A false accusation is hard to hear, isn't it? Especially when our accusers assume our guilt. It's best to humbly meet that charge head-on without resentment, acrimony, and defend our good name in the fear of the Lord. Like our Lord, we must commit our soul to Him who judges righteously. The Eastern tribes did not proudly walk away from their brethren and refused to explain their actions. We see this very often. You accuse me? How dare you? You know, even if we are falsely accused, the Lord wanted us to hear it, to humble us, to encourage us to walk more carefully in the future. The Eastern tribes, though, they explain the purpose beginning in verse 25 and 24. Hey, our children, you know what's at the root of all this? People forget their history. Ring a bell to you? People forget their history. In effect, the Reubenites and the Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh. He's like, our children are going to grow up and maybe your children will say to our children, hey, you're all the way over there. You're on the other side of the Jordan River Valley. You've got no part with us. What are you doing? You have no part in the Lord. And notice in the end of verse 25, the horror with which they say, that would make our descendants stop fearing the Lord. Are you concerned about that? I want my children, I want my children's children's children. Until Jesus comes, you should be believing God's covenant, promise and pray. Lord, make them fear you. Give them a heart to fear you. They weren't just thinking, hey, we've got the land, we've got the spoil, let's sit back. No. Lord, we want our descendants to fear you. It would break our hearts, we'd rather die. Then to have our children, boy, can you imagine what actually did happen? And so they said, verse 26, this is why we built this altar. It's not for burnt offerings. Verse 27, it's to be a witness. So that we'll go to Shiloh, we'll go to the tabernacle, and we will remember that we have a part in the Lord and in his people and that our children will be able to say to each other. He says this is also for your children so that we will remember our unity. that we will worship together as one people at his altar where he has put his name. Now, I don't know, I feel like weeping when I read this. I mean, we don't know hardly any of these people's names. But if only these kinds of people had been among us in our second and third and fourth generations. Don't forget what the Lord's done for you. Don't forget. that you worship the Lord as He commands. Don't forget, don't let your children forget the Lord. Your nation will be destroyed because if a people leave off fearing the Lord, they have no future. Now, perhaps for a generation or two, we kept these commitments, but Satan deceived us. Education stopped being in our land, talking about our land, about the Bible, and more about science and respectability and commercial success. The old doctrines and the old history lost their hold upon our collective consciousness. Other peoples came in and brought their gods with them, and we learned their ways rather than teaching them our ways, and now we apologize. for our older godly ways, a tragedy beyond words. Not the tragedy that we've lost our nation. but that we did not defend God's mighty works and did not maintain faithful worship. We did exactly what the Eastern tribes most earnestly wanted to avoid by the altar of witness. Children, do not forget what the Lord has done for you. Never ever stop fearing the Lord, which means to trust Him, love Him, cling to Him with all your heart. Now it's not too late to remember and teach our children what made our nation great once. It was faith in God and a common commitment to His gospel. We have many altars of witness in our colonial and some of our national documents and monuments. Wicked men, of course, are knocking them over as quickly as they can. But we must teach our children what they meant. It was faith in God. It was limited government. It was Christ, not man as king. It was checks and balances upon Leviathan so that we would have God alone to be. And what did it mean when state governors and presidents once called for days of prayer and fasting? Our children will see none of these altars, brothers and sisters, in today's government schools, which is the reason Christians have to come out from among them and be separate. We have to lay Christ as the foundation of wisdom and knowledge, or we will lose our children to the world. and to the devil. You need to make sure if your children are in Christian schools, they're hearing their correct history. They're learning to worship God according to His word, not according to the whims of spiritual children. Now in verses 30 through 34, the chapter ends, when we're zealous for the Lord, there's peace and this is what happens the Western tribes rejoice that their Eastern brethren were not guilty of any trespass against the Lord and they returned and they shared the good news they bless the Lord there was no war and the chapter ends in verse 34 the children of Reuben the Gadites and the Manassites named the altar witness witness now you might feel what does this have to do with us Well, let me remember that the Lord Jesus said to each one of you, you are my witnesses. An impressive stone altar is a fine thing, a monument and symbol. These are important reminders of the past. But we have better witnesses than these. We should. A living heart for God that speaks his praise. A mind that knows something of his great works. I pray, young men, that you're interested in history and that you're studying it. You're wanting to learn about the great men and women who have gone before you. Because you're a witness, like Jesus before Pilate. Remember, he was the faithful witness, Revelation chapter 1. He gave the good confession. He did not deny, but confessed before Pilate. Confess. Be a witness, a living witness for Christ. Speak of His blood and righteousness. Now, the world needs an authentic witness like this today. Now, not television religion and subjective spirituality without boundaries or dead orthodoxy without joy and purpose. Let me suggest three or four ways we can be altars of witness in our lives. And first of all, that language is very It's very sacramental at one level, but this is where Romans 12.1, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. So what kind of altar are we supposed to be? Let me suggest one, be an honest and a humble witness. That you're not a Christian because you're smart or good or no more than all the other fools that you think are out there. You're a Christian because you're a sinner and you need a savior from sin. If we can't tell the truth about ourselves, How can we boast in the cross and therefore we take all the power out of our witness? A humble and an honest witness we must be. That we need a Savior and that other men need a Savior. Second, be a confessing witness to the living Savior. A confessing witness. Speak of Jesus Christ as a real person. You know, we easily say, well, you know, the Lord did so and so. You know, you might run into somebody and have a moment of conversation. Say Jesus Christ did this. He's a living Savior, a living Lord. We don't just have a stone monument. He rules over all. He's the living Lord of our lives. Our lives are not living sacrifices to Him unless you are active followers and fearing the Lord. Children, just because you think you can quote a bunch of verses and you go to Christian or you're homeschooled. So? I mean, at one level, what are you going to do with it? Is Jesus going to be your living Lord so that you confess Him and that you're bowing to Him and submitting to Him? Has He made a difference in your life? That you're confessing to others? You know, isn't it funny? How can we fix things? Well, we need this and we need that. We need to do this and do that. We need the Savior to fix men. Because men are dead in their trespasses and sinning. You're his witnesses and he's supposed to have made a difference in your life and in mine. And so we need to tell men and women and children how Jesus Christ makes a difference. Yes, the Lord alone can open hearts, but he uses our witness. Third, be an intelligent witness. Not arrogant. But know the Bible and be able to give answers to those around you. Can you answer this question if somebody asks you, why are these things happening in our nation right now? Everybody in here should be able to answer that question. And it's not, well, you know, there was this currency Bretton Woods agreement in 1971 and no, no, bad way. I mean, yes, that was all there. And if you if you have time, you can go through all that. But that's not why. It's because there's a God in heaven and He's righteous and our nation has offended Him and we are dripping with blood and the Lord Jesus Christ is reigning at the right hand of the Father and if we don't repent as a nation He will kill us. Be able to give an intelligent witness from Scripture. Be able to, in the midst of, oh, so-and-so was a racist. So we don't, really? You mean, and again, I don't even want to bring this up, but these things are important to know. You mean Jefferson Davis, the president of confederacy who adopted a little black boy timothy into his own family and when the union soldiers came through and said you're free he said free what are you talking about that's my daddy you mean like compared to him versus abraham lincoln who said the best white man will never be the equal of the dumbest white man the best black man will never be the equal of the dumbest white man really Make sure you're able, not to refight the war between the states, and please don't take it that that's what I mean for you to do. But when you hear asinine, ridiculous statements, be able to understand. That means, oh, I need to spend some time, don't I, learning like, oh, maybe our icons and our, maybe I need to make sure I read a little bit more and know Because I'm supposed to be an intelligent witness, not just click your heels three times and I'll get to go to heaven to be with Jesus and that's my whole message for you. No, also my message is Marxism kills a nation. Marxism is satanic because Satan is a liar and a murderer. And the idea that, you know, we can by collectivism, communism, socialism, make the world a better place. Go ask Liliana, if you remember her, how it worked in Colombia. Go ask others who've come. It absolutely raped and pillaged once prosperous land. Be able to give an intelligent Not an arrogant one, a humble one. And fourthly, be a bold witness. Don't be afraid. What do you have to be afraid of? The general is on your side. You're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. You have a whole angelic host surrounding you. Yes, being a witness will bring resistance from the world, but don't be afraid. Don't apologize for being a Christian. Encouragement, you better apologize now before Christ and come to Him and submit to Him as your Lord. Because if we don't fear Him as a nation and believe in His Son, we're going to suffer under His wrath. Don't be afraid. I wonder how much if the Lord opened our eyes. Like Elisha's servant, remember Elisha said, Lord open my servant's eyes because he's biting his nails down to the knuckles and he's scared to death and there's no way we can beat the Syrians. And Elisha just says, Lord just open his eyes so he can see. And the whole valley was filled with fiery chariots. Now is that true all the time? I don't know. Maybe, probably. It says every child in this room in here has an angel that beholds the face of their father in heaven. Some of us probably had more than one, okay? But the point here is we're surrounded. You have nothing, and yet the fear of fitting in, the fear of conformity, the fear of, well, I can't say anything about boys that don't want to be boys, and girls that don't want to be girls, and people who want to marry their dogs and their cats, and I can't say anything. No, we need to give a bold, humble, intelligent witness because Jesus said, you are my witnesses. Not your preachers, not your elders, they need to be witnessing too, but you are my witnesses. And so if we want this or any nation to be a godlier one, we're going to have to assume that mantle of responsibility that the Lord Jesus has given us and maybe pick up some of the zeal. Go back and read Joshua 22 this week and say, Lord, make me like these people. Man, we don't even know their names. And yet, man, we're going to worship the Lord and we want to bear witness to His grace and what He's done for us. And we don't want our children to lose a sense of identity. Isn't it interesting? I'll close with this. The children? Here's a place in the Bible where a war was almost started about children. Because the Eastern tribes, they didn't want their children to forget. And the western tribes at least initially thought they were trying to corrupt everybody, including children. How do you secure your children? You better make sure that you are giving in your home a humble, a bold, an intelligent, a confessing witness. of Christ and children that you're listening to that witness and you're taking it in. Because like they said here, if our children don't fear the Lord, we have no future. By the way, don't miss this. Don't miss this about our day. It doesn't matter if people go to the voting booth and vote for all the candidates that have an R after their names. If those people and their children don't fear the Lord, there's no future. There's no future. So we've got our work cut out for us both by prayer and by words. And you need to encourage other believers. You know we need to be sharing and speaking because this is the sword coming out of our Savior's mouth. We need to be witnesses for our Savior and what He has done for us and what He has done for our history in this land and what He might do for us again if we would repent and turn to Him with all of our hearts. Let's pray together. Oh Lord, we do ask that you would make us humble and faithful and bold witnesses. We thank you for the zeal of the Eastern tribes and how much they did not want their children to forget what you had done for them. Help us to be witnesses like this to our children and throughout the church we pray that Your people would be humble and bold and confessing and intelligent witnesses of your reign at the right hand of the Father. Bless us, O Lord. Bless us. Forgive us for being so little concerned with your worship and help each one of us to seriously inquire, Lord, do I fear you? Is this the life I'm living? On a day-by-day basis, if the whole church lived with me and watched my words and read my texts and looked at the websites I visited and saw my thoughts, would they say, this man, this young person, this teenager, this old person fears the Lord and loves Him and I want to be like that? Or would they walk away from us in disgust and spit in our face for being hypocrites? Oh Lord, help us, help us. Oh God of our salvation, we ask in Jesus' name, amen.